Operation Big Bird
[4] Operation Big Bird began when Filipino banker and Chairman of Credit Manila, de Guzman, contacted the Aquino administration and offered his services to recover the Marcos' wealth in the various banks in Switzerland and other countries.
"[5] On March 1, 1986, De Guzman returned to Vienna and met with Dagher who updated him on the various reactions within the Swiss banking community regarding the recent developments in Manila.
[8] After arriving in Jounieh, De Guzman and Dagher met with fellow bankers who informed them how Iran was able to recover the frozen assets of Shāh Mohammad-Rezā Pahlavi, in Switzerland.
This resulted in the suggestion that De Guzman should go to Hawaii and meet with the Marcoses to get power of attorney to withdraw the money on their behalf before the banks closed-in on the accounts.
[8] On March 20, 1986, De Guzman received a call from Irwin Ver who confirmed that a meeting had been arranged with the Marcoses - Ferdinand, Imelda and Bongbong - at their temporary lodging in base housing inside Hickam AFB.
Marcos wanted to confirm this information and sent Bongbong and De Guzman at around 10:00 pm to Honolulu International Airport to call their personal banker in Credit Suisse, Ernst Scheller.
They returned to base housing where De Guzman received a note from Imelda stating "Palmy Foundation" and a plastic bag containing traveler's cheques worth US$300,000.00.
[8][11][12] On March 24, 1986, De Guzman flew with Dagher to Zurich to meet with Scheller and present the Power of Attorney to transfer the Marcos money to the Exportfinanzierungsbank in Vienna.
They were initially informed by Scheller that the Swiss authorities have put a "freeze order" on all the accounts linked to the Marcoses, but failed to produce any formal documentation on this.
Scheller also mentioned that he re-documented the records already and moved the accounts as instructed by Ms. Fe Gimenez, Marcos' personal secretary, three weeks before after their evacuation of Malacañan Palace.
Without the formal notice of the freeze order, De Guzman suspects Scheller of stalling the transfer in protection of the interest of Credit Suisse and not the Marcoses.
[12] On May 7, 1986, Mike de Guzman attempted once more to retrieve the Marcos money in the Swiss accounts, by making Scheller acknowledge their personal meeting and the Power of Attorney.
Aquino approved the plan, and Operation Big Bird finally commenced with De Guzman and Almonte being joined by Solicitor-General Sedfrey Ordoñez.
Upon arrival at the Embassy, Hoets and the lawyers insisted that the scheduled meeting with the Swiss bankers should only be attended by Ordoñez, and that De Guzman and Almonte should not be included.
[11] A meeting with the Federal Department of Justice and Police only took 20 minutes, when the Swiss authorities unanimously decided to approve in principle the selective defreezing of only those identified Marcos accounts and foundations, amounting to US$213 million.
[11][12] Upon returning to the Philippine Embassy the group called Chairman Salonga and Congressman Cojuangco on the success of the Operation, and rushed to complete the required formal documents.
[11] On July 6, 1986, De Guzman received additional information on the newly identified Marcos accounts in Switzerland amounting to US$3 billion in six different banks.
It was suggested that the team should prepare the same request as those of July 4, and that Almonte should fly to Switzerland first thing the next day to endorse the documents to Ambassador Ascalon for a formal communication to the FDJP.
[8][11][12] On July 8, 1986, The Judge of Instructions in Zurich ordered Credit Suisse to release and transfer the unfrozen Marcos deposits to the account of the Philippine Government in Exportfinanzierungsbank in Vienna.
Ordoñez instructed the Swiss lawyers, without informing Almonte and De Guzman, to request the FDJP and Credit Suisse to direct the transfer of the monies to a new destination, the newly opened account of the Philippine Government within the said bank.
[8][11] Meanwhile, before the transfer was made, the Credit Suisse official, Ernst Scheller, contacted the son of the former president, Bongbong Marcos, and informed him of the Philippine Government's actions.
[12] On July 13, 1986, The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Ordoñez that they were able to retrieve the initial US$213 million of Marcos' plundered money in Switzerland, and that the said fund would be in the government's hands soon.
[8] The meeting was confirmed by Ms. Ching Escaler, Aquino's Appointments Secretary (and later Philippine Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and New York City) on December 29, 1986.
[12] However, De Guzman and Gen. Almonte lay the blame on Executive Secretary Joker Arroyo, and Philippine Ambassador to Bern, Luis Ascalon, aside from Ordoñez and Salonga.
[16][17] The Chaves Report also rejected the view of the Swiss attorneys and PCGG Chairman Jovito R. Salonga that they had saved the Philippine Government from a massive theft.
It concluded that if the funds had been remitted to the Vienna bank to the account of Philippine government, whose authorized joint signatories were Solicitor-General Ordoñez and Gen. Almonte, there was no risk that De Guzman would have stolen the money.
In addition to this the Exportfinanzierungsbank in Vienna was also strictly regulated by the Austrian Federal Market Authority (FMA), and that the bank's board even had Almonte, Ordoñez, and Amb.
[18] On August 10, 1995, the PCGG filed an additional request with the District Attorney in Zurich for the immediate transfer of the deposits to an escrow account in the Philippine National Bank (PNB).
On appeal by the Marcoses, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, in a decision dated December 10, 1997, upheld the ruling of the District Attorney of Zurich granting the request for the transfer of the funds.
[20] On July 29, 1999, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis E. Garchitorena denied the motion to release US$150 million from the funds to pay Marcos human rights victims.
